5 Environmental Protection Agency
97. Some waste management regulatory functions have
been transferred from District Councils to the Waste Management
& Contaminated Land Unit (WMCL) within the Environment and
Heritage Service (EHS) in recent years. A number of witnesses,
while clear that the previous arrangements had not been ideal,
doubted the ability of the WMCL to discharge this function adequately.
The Waste Management Advisory Board highlighted "a lack of
appropriate 'field and management expertise' in some posts …"
while recognising "the ongoing difficulties in recruiting
and maintaining appropriately qualified staff."[159]
98. Friends of the Earth drew a comparison between
the Environmental Policy Division of the Department of the Environment
which "has been very well resourced to bring forward…legislation",
and the EHS which "has not been resourced to deal with its
implementation"[160]
The Department made it clear that its bid for resources recognised
the need for more staff, and that a process of expansion had begun.
In any expansion of the EHS, the staff appointed must be of the
highest possible calibre.
99. A key recommendation of the Waste Management
Advisory Board Report, reflecting the views of a range of stakeholders,
was strong support for "the establishment of an Independent
Environmental Protection Agency".[161]
Friends of the Earth stated bluntly that "EHS is failing
as a regulator and Northern Ireland needs an Independent Environmental
Protection Agency".[162]
100. A report by Professor Richard Macrory in February
2004, commissioned by a coalition of environmental organisations
in Northern Ireland, recommended that an independent Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) should be established.[163]
Subsequently, a survey of interested organisations found that
more than three-quarters of the respondents supported the establishment
of an EPA, independent of Government, and acting as a champion
for the environment as a whole.[164]
Northern Ireland is unique within the United Kingdom in not having
such an organisation. The Minister expressed qualified sympathy
for the idea of an EPA.[165]
101. We support
the calls for the establishment of an Environmental Protection
Agency for the Northern Ireland although we recognise that its
remit would extend well beyond the issue of waste management.
We are pleased that the Minister appears receptive to this, and
call on her to undertake a review to identify the best option
for Northern Ireland.
159 Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy Review
Report, Waste Management Advisory Board for Northern Ireland,
June 2004 (page 14) Back
160
Q 345 Back
161
Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy Review Report,
Waste Management Advisory Board for Northern Ireland, June 2004
(page v) Back
162
Ev 203 Back
163
Transparency and Trust: Reshaping Environmental Governance
in Northern Ireland, Professor Richard Macrory CBE Faculty
of Laws of University College, London, February 2004. Back
164
Environmental Protection Consultation: Analysis of Responses,
Liz Fawcett October 2004. Back
165
QQ 387-391 Back
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